Public Service award goes to Kevin L. Bradley of Genesis Club

Thursday

Feb 27, 2014 at 9:54 PM

By Alli Knothe TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — A casual glance at the three-story white building on Lincoln Street doesn't give a hint that its occupant — Genesis Club — is one of the world's most highly respected community centers for people living with mental illness.

It's also not apparent that Kevin L. Bradley, the lanky man with wire-framed glasses who always has time for questions from members and staff, is the club's founding executive director.

"He's modest and unassuming and just such an anchor of Genesis," said Charles Lidz, a former president of the club and a research professor of psychiatry and sociology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "A number of members of Genesis have a personal, special relationship with him."

Now 25 years after the clubhouse was established, Mr. Bradley has been selected to receive the Telegram & Gazette's Public Service Award.

The award, which carries a $2,500 cash prize, is given to a person in Central Massachusetts for exceptional public service.

It will be presented at the T&G's annual Visions Community Awards program from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St.

Carmen M. Ortiz, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, will the program's keynote speaker.

Other honorees include Mark W. Fuller of Boylston, who will receive the Isaiah Thomas Award; Jonathan M. Weaver of Auburn, who will receive the Young Leader Award and Bronte Torres Pagan of Winchendon, the Academic Achievement Award winner. The Higgins Armory Museum will be this year's recipient of the Cultural Enrichment Award. James C. Donnelly, president of the museum's board of trustees, will receive the award.

Ruth Osterman has known Mr. Bradley for about 23 years, when she worked in a similar facility in Springfield.

She transferred to the Genesis Club in about 2000 and has been working closely with Mr. Bradley ever since.

"His leadership style is so engaging and welcoming," she said. "That vision has attracted a strong staff."

Mr. Lidz said that Mr. Bradley's open-door, inclusive and collaborative approach to problems ranging from the price of toast in the cafeteria to the policy on substance abuse, has made the difference in advancing the clubhouse to the front of the pack.

The Worcester clubhouse is one of the 10 training locations for new or existing locations. In the 20 years since it began those programs, they have trained more than 200 clubhouses from 14 countries around the world.

There are currently about 400 clubhouses around the world, with 35 scattered around Massachusetts — the most of any state in the country.

The organization, with a staff of 25 and about 700 current members, has a roughly $1.8 million annual budget. The majority of those funds are awarded by the state and federal government, as well as through private donations.

Membership is free. New members, often referred from their mental health care provider, have a right to employment, as established by the clubhouse rules. Jobs range from research assistants to dishwashers in a cafeteria or working in the mail room at institutions around the city.

The most successful members are in the clubhouse three to five days of the week and can choose to contribute by volunteering in anything from emptying the trash to cooking for about 60 people in the cafeteria. The facility is open six days a week, usually from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., though the organization does own several local housing units around the city as well.

Members have a wide range of mental health diagnoses, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, affective personality disorder and depression. Addiction is also a prevalent issue, Mr. Bradley said.

In the community, however, "they're returning to employment, housing, and wellness," Mr. Bradley said. The clubhouse offers support services including group nutrition, exercise, smoking cessation programs as well as youth programs.

Members are included in just about every aspect of Genesis Club. They have a place at the biweekly policy meetings and have seats on the board of directors. Walking through the halls, Mr. Bradley explains, "you can't tell who is a member and who is staff."

And rather than worry about the setbacks, "We talk about what someone is doing to get their life back together," he said.

Mr. Bradley is the kind of person who leads from behind, his colleagues said, and listens to all perspectives before giving his input. It's in that trait that Mr. Bradley is not one to speak of his own accomplishments.

"He'll tell you it's about the members and the staff," Mr. Lidz said. "That's precisely what makes him such an outstanding leader and what has made Genesis such an impressive place."

The Visions Community Program is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. To attend, contact Katy Donahue at the Telegram & Gazette at kathlene.donahue@telegram.com or call (508) 793-9332.

Contact Alli Knothe at allison.knothe@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @KnotheA